by Marilyn Lee
Barroni tossed her head. “Whether or not I keep your confidence will depend on whether or not you get in the way of my captures. Stay out of my way and I won’t. Do anything to protect that fem and all bets are off!” She turned and stormed off.
Myrika watched her go, fists clenched at her sides. If she warned Lavea Barroni was coming after her, Barroni would reveal her secret. If she did not, Barroni would track and no doubt attempt to kill Lavea, and that she would not allow.
She climbed back in her vehicle, her determination set. She glanced in the rearview mirror, for a last look. Once she warned Lavea, Barroni would report her and she would soon find herself on the run. She would eventually find herself facing down those she had once considered friends and colleagues.
So be it.
* * *
Lying on a chaise lounge on the terrace outside of the bedroom she shared with Sean, Susoma bolted into a sitting position and looked around. Standing within arm’s reach of her was a vampire fem with beautiful dark skin and dark eyes.
Although the fem had been hostile toward her in the past and she was alone now, Susoma felt no fear. Even pregnant, she was still as strong as the fem. She rose and faced her rival for Sean’s affection. “Lavea, you should leave before Sean returns.”
“I’ve come to warn you. They’re here and they’re looking for you.”
“Who is here?”
“They call themselves Compliance Agents. One of them calls herself Myrika, born of Jaharra.”
Susoma sucked in a breath. Myrika was famous for always capturing her targets. “And you led her here?”
“No! I told her nothing, but I thought I’d warn you.”
“Why? If they catch me and return me to Telmira you’ll have Sean back.”
Lavea laughed. “I no longer want him back! I have other interests now.”
“Then what are you doing here, fem?”
Both Susoma and Lavea swung around. Sean stood just outside the glass door leading into the master bedroom.
“Warning you the agents are here. One of them, Myrika, might be open to having her alliances changed, but the other one, Barroni, is looking to earn a promotion by Susoma’s capture.”
“And why are you here telling us this?”
“Because I’m interested in Myrika. I don’t care what happens to Barroni, but I want to ensure Myrika doesn’t get hurt.”
Sean walked across the terrace to face Lavea. They stared at each other in silence for several moments before he nodded slowly. “If this Myrika doesn’t challenge me or menace Susoma or my son in any way, I will have no reason to kill her. Describe these two.”
She did, then lifted her chin. “What of the situation between us?”
Sean shrugged. “The slate between us is clear.”
Lavea nodded, turned, and disappeared in a flash.
Susoma tensed when Sean looked at her. “I’m going to go after them. But before I do, I’m going to take you to the Brotherhood.”
The thought of spending more than a few hours with the surly bunch of egotistical vampires Sean had aligned himself with was not pleasant. “That won’t be necessary. I can take care of myself and --”
“And you will do as I say!” His eyes flashed and he bared his incisors. “The life of my son must be safeguarded at all costs.”
Susoma shook her head angrily. “And if I were not pregnant? Would you care that they were after me?”
“I don’t have time for another one of your god damned whining sessions! I will protect you with my life. What difference does it make why I’m willing to do it?”
After all these months together, he still didn’t seem to understand her need for assurance of his affection. “It matters!”
“It shouldn’t!”
“Is that how you plan to treat our child? Will you tell her --”
“Him!”
“Will you tell her that it doesn’t matter why you’re willing to protect her?”
“Our son will lack for nothing.”
She suspected Sean was prepared to shower a male with all the nourishing he would require, but would their daughter lack his love? Not for the first time since she had learned of her pregnancy, Susoma questioned the wisdom of remaining with Sean.
For all the heartbreak she and Kyla had suffered during their lives, they had always loved and cherished each other. They had stood together and withstood the scorn of all Telmira, secure in their affection for each other. She wanted her child to know that same feeling of adoration. This was something she feared Sean was not capable of providing -- especially if their child was female.
But Kyla was here now. Together, they could prevail over all who pursued them. She had been foolish to allow her lust and later love for Sean to keep her from her duty to Kyla. Sean did not love her. She wasn’t sure if he were even capable of love. He would guard and protect both her and their child, but she and their baby deserved more.
She looked down at her stomach. The time had come to do what she should have done many months earlier. She had to leave Sean. Although the prospect of never seeing him again made her ache, she was determined to do what was best for her baby. “I’ll go inside and prepare to leave.”
He nodded curtly.
Once inside, she stuffed the pocket of her jeans with money from the petty cash drawer Sean kept in the bedroom and slipped out of the house by a side door. She moved quietly, fearful of a confrontation if Sean caught her. She knew he would do nothing that would injure the child she carried, but he was quite capable of imprisoning her and taking their baby once she was born. If Susoma had been prepared to allow that to happen, she would have returned to Telmira instead of allowing Kyla to face the consequences of her behavior alone.
* * *
Several hours after leaving Pennsylvania, Rechazes stopped behind a medium-sized cabin nestled in a grove of trees, far back from the road. “Here we are.”
“What is this place?”
“We call it the Safe House. We have several located in different states. We have assorted clothing, food, and if necessary, weapons here.”
Alighting from the SUV, Kyla stretched. These Earth transports were not as comfortable as the ones back home. She smiled as Lassie bounded out of the side of the vehicle and rubbed against her. “We’re free, Lassie.”
Yes, my Kyla, we are.
“Pavala, it’s really her!”
Kyla turned. Two, tall shapely women emerged from the open door of the Safe House. The older of the women inclined her head. “Kyla, born of Takira Andandre, I am Pavala, sister to Erena, she who leads the Alantee. Welcome.”
The younger of the two, a beauty with golden bronze skin, short, kinky hair, and dark, liquid eyes, rushed forward, a wide smile on her face. “I am Jocenta, sister to Pavala. Welcome to Earth, sister.”
The warmth radiating from the women drew Kyla forward. She found herself enveloped by two pairs of arms, kisses pressed against her cheeks and forehead. She hadn’t felt such a sense of welcome and tender affection since Susoma had left Telmira for her woman journey some five years earlier. Overcome, her eyes filled with tears. She offered a silent, heartfelt prayer of thanksgiving. The goddess’s kindness knew no bounds. For the first time in years she felt safe and cherished.
“Come, you must rest for a while.” Pavala drew away. “When you have rested and eaten, we will continue the journey home to Virginia.”
Kyla turned to face Lassie. “This is my companion, Lassie.”
The two Alantee inclined their heads in his direction.
Lassie turned his green gaze on her. I must go hunting.
Alone?
Yes.
But you’ll get lost.
I will not. I will return when I have fed. He turned and stalked into the woods.
Kyla hesitated briefly before starting after him. Rechazes caught her arm. “Let him go. He is well able to take care of himself.”
“But this is a strange place to us both and --”
“A
nd he is able to take care of himself.” Rechazes squeezed her arm. “Come inside.”
Kyla cast a last look in the direction Lassie had disappeared. Don’t be long, Lassie. Please.
Don’t worry about me, Kyla. This place is my ancient home as well. There are things I must do. When I’m done I will return. Until then you will be safe with the Alantee.
She closed her eyes on a fresh rush of tears. She sensed the same resolve in Lassie she had made herself. She would stay far away from Susoma, and Lassie would not be returning that afternoon.
* * *
Lassie kept to the back trails after he left Kyla until he was certain he hadn’t been followed. He’d lost control of himself once and revealed part of his hidden nature. Now it was time to explore and embrace every part of himself.
He sought the shelter of the dense woodland, lay on his stomach, closed his eyes, and lost himself in revealing the abilities of the spiritual Chandra. With his senses open to the healing way of the Chandra, he saw who and what he was. He relived the pain of both parts of his nature… the shame and derision one side felt for the other. The time of living a divided life that was a lie must end. As the Chandra demanded, he forgave his weaker, gentle nature, while embracing and welcoming the stronger, more aggressive part of himself.
Finally, weak or strong, gentle or aggressive, he was one, and at peace with himself. He released the tight rein he always kept on himself when he was with Kyla. The taut, powerful muscles of the carnivore begin to reshape themselves into longer, equally taut ones. His body absorbed his tail. His skin texture changed.
This was the first time he had consciously triggered the change. The process was difficult, painful, and lengthy. At its finish, Eros lay shivering on the ground. He rose slowly, his legs buckling. Stumbling forward, he leaned against the nearest tree trunk. He took several moments to catch his breath. When he straightened, he pushed the long, dark hair out of his face. He looked down at himself. He would need clothing to cover the long, naked, pale limbs of his body.
His body. He clenched his hand into a fist. This was his body. Not Lassie’s. He frowned. His body and his mind and he would no longer allow Lassie, his psychic Keddi, to take control of their shared body… unless it suited his purpose.
For now, he felt something he had never felt before -- completely free to be himself. He recalled the sultry interlude with Kyla in the back of the SUV. His cock stirred between his legs and he closed his eyes, recalling her thick, hard woman dick thrusting in and out of his ass. His appetite for anal sex had finally been satisfied at the end of Kyla’s shaft. He needed to explore why he had been unaware that Lassie was a part of himself for so long. But his immediate need and desire was to return to Kyla. He needed to ease her fears for his safety and to help protect her.
He turned and ran through the woods back toward the place where he had left Kyla with the Alantee. An hour from where he had left Kyla, he abruptly stopped. A woman dressed in black leather with dark hair and eyes, and only a few inches shorter than himself, blocked his path.
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “I am Myrika, born of Jaharra, Compliance Agent. Eros, born of Myacondrea, you are here without permission. I order you to take me to Kyla.”
Eros’s nostrils flared. “I am Eros, son of Apollo, but as I was not born on Telmira you have no authority over me. Stand aside, agent, or I will move you in a most unpleasant way.”
She stared at him, her eyes slowly moving over his body. Her gaze came to rest on his groin. By the time she looked into his eyes again, his cock stood at rigid, aching attention. “You will find that I am not so easy to move aside, male.”
“And you will find that I am not one of the timid Telmiran males you are used to dealing with!” He closed the distance between them, grabbed her arms, and pushed her against the nearest tree.
He expected a struggle. She offered none -- not even when he pushed her leather pants down, revealing her pussy. Staring into her gaze, he cupped his palm between her legs. He felt the unmistakable bulge below her already damp slit. “I’m a male who takes what he wants.”
“And what is that?”
“Pussy!”
“You feel no special allegiance to Kyla?”
“You expect one raised on Telmira to practice monogamy?”
She shook her head. “Not generally, but some do.”
“My heart belongs exclusively to Kyla, but my cock belongs to whomever I choose to thrust it in. Right now I have no desire to deny myself anything.”
Still, he paused, giving her a brief time to object. When she didn’t, he growled deep in his throat, thrusting forward. She parted her legs, and he drove his cock into her moist, heated slit. She curled her fingers in his hair, drawing his mouth down to hers. Cock firmly embedded in her, he braced his arms against the tree trunk and fucked her wildly, kissing and biting at her tongue and lips.
As he fucked her, he kept his eyes closed, his thoughts on Kyla. Like Kyla, this female possessed a dick. He felt it pop out and slide against one of his cheeks during a series of furious thrusts. It wasn’t as thick or as long as Kyla’s. Nevertheless his ass lubricated and he ached to have it filled. Holding himself still inside her, he reached back, grabbed her dick, pressed it against his ass, moaning into her mouth as she pushed forward, driving her hard length past the protesting hole and into his ass.
Lust shuddered through him, robbing him of everything except his ability to feel. His knees buckled. She wrapped her arms around him, lowered them both to the ground, coming to rest on top of him, each of them impaled on a hard shaft.
Clinging to each other, they fucked several times before, exhausted and limp, they pulled their shafts out and lay on their sides, staring at each other.
“What you did is out of compliance,” he told her, amused and satisfied.
She rolled over, pinning him to the ground with her body. “Where is Kyla?”
He laughed. “You don’t really think I’m going to tell you that, do you?” He reached between her legs to touch her flaccid dick. “You with your woman dick should be the last person hunting her down.”
She tensed on him, staring into his eyes. “Are you telling me she possesses a woman dick?”
“It’s a beauty,” he said, his cock stirring as he recalled the painful climax he had experienced at the end of Kyla’s hard dick. “It’s long and thick, and feels so good sliding in and out of my ass.”
“Then she must not return to Telmira.”
“She’s not going to.” Eros smiled, stroking a hand down her back to her shapely ass. “Do your superiors know you are a Johnnie?”
“They will know soon enough.”
“How?”
She rolled off of him and rose, pulling up her pants. “I had an… interlude with a vampire in my search for Susoma. My partner became jealous and can no longer be trusted to keep my secret.”
He rose. “Then why keep hunting Susoma and Kyla? Why not join those who insist on the freedom to choose their own sexuality?”
She arched a brow. “You mean the mythical Alantee?”
“And if I tell you they are not mythical?”
“They are. I have searched for them every chance I could on every world where we were dispatched. I have never encountered any of them.”
“If you found them, what would you do? Attempt to bring them into compliance?”
“That’s what I would have done… until I met the vampire fem I told you about.”
“You love her?”
“I believe that I could… if we were allowed to explore our relationship without the fear of my fellow agents coming after me.”
Eros looked at her. “I have met some of the Alantee.”
“You also know where Kyla is.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“Why?”
“I will assist her in avoiding detection.”
He leaned forward, staring into her eyes. “Do you know who I am?”
“Eros, bo
rn of Myacondrea --”
“No. I am Eros, but I was not born on Telmira. I am a shifter. Did you find the two Compliance Agents pursuing Kyla and I when we left Telmira?”
“They were murdered. A summons has been issued for Kyla’s apprehension.”
“Kyla did not kill them. They were menacing her, so I killed them.”
“You? It’s well known on Telmira you are a healer, like your father.”
“Eros is a healer, but I am not! See me as those menacing Kyla did.” He dropped to his hands and knees, closed his eyes, and willed his body to change shape. The transformation from humanoid to carnivore was quicker this time, but still painful. At its completion, he stood before her as Lassie. For the first time, while Lassie, he had full knowledge that he was also Eros. While it felt strange to be Lassie and Eros at the same time, he reveled in the dual identities. As Eros, his nature was gentle, that of a healer. His physic Keddi, Lassie, was strong, wild, fearless, and possessive.
He bared his teeth. Those who menace Kyla will meet the same fate those two agents met on Telmira or worse. Do not make the mistake of thinking Eros will hesitate to kill you. I am Eros, but I am also Lassie. And Lassie has a predatory nature and an instinctive urge to protect those he -- I -- love, at all costs. Do not force me to kill you.
“I have no fear of you, Lassie, born of Eros, but I have spent the last twenty years struggling with my own desire to exercise free will. I have grown… weary of tracking down and bringing into compliance those whose desires mirror my own. Take me to the Alantee and I will align myself with them, giving them the benefit of my experience.”
You are legendary in your pursuit of prisoners. You would have me believe you could or will abandon your duties so quickly?
“This is a decision I have been struggling with for the last twenty years. Now that I have met a woman I desire above all others, I must have time to pursue and win her.”
I will tell the Alantee of your… conversion. If they are interested in meeting you, how can they contact you?
“If they are the Alantee, they will find a way to contact me.”
I am leaving. Do not attempt to follow me. If you do, you will quickly learn that Lassie does not share Eros’ aversion to inflicting pain and death.